It’s been a rollercoaster year so far for UFC light-heavyweight fighter Brandon Vera. In January he was defeated by Thiago Silva, his third defeat in a row, which lead to him being cut by the UFC.
According to Vera, who had been fighting for the UFC for the majority of his MMA career, the days and weeks after being released became a blur.
“I was lost man, I was just lost, floating around on a cloud,” he recalls. “I remember getting the call [that I’d been cut] and then everything was just a fog until I got the call saying I was back in.”
The call inviting him back came about after his opponent was found to have faked a pre-fight urine test in a failed attempt to disguise his use of performance enhancing drugs.
That lead to their fight being altered to a no-contest and according to Vera that’s the right decision as he did feel that Silva’s performance in the cage was suspicious that night.
“I remember him being strong, that’s all I remember about the whole fight. I couldn’t believe how strong his ass was,” Vera says, and claims that no-one has held him down like that since he was in sixth grade fighting a ninth grader.
So it’s now onwards and upwards for Vera as he gets ready to step back into the Octagon against Eliot Marshall at UFC 137 in October. When asked about the fight Vera is cagey however, perhaps mindful of the fact that he’s been known to talk big in the past about how he’s better than ever only for it to backfire on him in the actual fight.
“Just watch. I’m not even really going to talk about the fight anymore because everybody always says the same thing…’Oh I’m better, oh I’m faster, oh I did this, oh I did that. I’m not gonna waste my time man, just watch the fight and come see.”
Check out Vera’s full interview from this past weekend’s Comic-Con event courtesy of Peace Magazine below.
—
